Ahead of Apple’s announcement about new products, we’ve got some more news about the company. The Supreme Court has decided to hear an appeal on a long-running patent dispute between Apple and Samsung.
Will only hear certain considerations
Although the high court today agreed to hear the appeal, the questions it will seek to answer are limited. According to SCOTUS Blog, the Court will only consider a question about the scope of the patent trial award — whether “an award of infringer’s profits [should] be limited to those profits attributable to the component.” In other words: Does the award given to Samsung match the level of infringement? That narrow consideration means the Court will not look into broader questions about design patents that also could have been placed under consideration.
The case originally started in 2011, with Apple alleging that the South Korean tech giant had infringed on designs used in the iPhone. A court decided against Samsung, and subsequent appeals also affirmed in Apple’s favor. With that, Samsung made its request for the Supreme Court to hear the case.
“The Court’s review of this case can lead to a fair interpretation of patent law that will support creativity and reward innovation,” Samsung said in a statement.
Although Samsung would likely have preferred for the Court to take a broader look at the lower courts’ decisions, the damages decision could still be shaken up. Last year, Samsung tentatively agreed to pay $548 million as part of that decision.
Update, 11:15AM ET: Includes statement from Samsung,
0
